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Yes. I've known two people who were terminally ill and had made arrangements. (Neither of them live in the USA and I'm not sure of the legalities). In both cases, when they said they were ready to go they passed naturally before they were assisted. This tells me that we do know in cases like this when it's time to go. If I afford my animals the respect and care to help them not suffer, I expect to be able to make that choice for myself.

I don't think I support it in cases that aren't terminal illness related.

Yes. Alzheimer's runs in my family and eventually the person gets to the point where they can't communicate, walk, talk, feed themselves, etc.... There comes a point with this disease and others where there is no longer any quality of life and definitely no dignity either. I know that I don't want to live like that and don't want my loved ones to have to deal with that.

In all reality, they might as well support it in the US. That is what hospitals and other agencies who provide support to the terminally ill do. They just load you up with enough drugs to slowly shut you down and call it comfort measures.

I am back and forth with my opinion on this. I basically do support it but have that little part of me which screams NO! And I can't tell you why. I guess it is a deep seeded internal belief that no one should go before their time. I've seen suffering, and I have seen people ready and begging to go as well. That does change your opinion, but still argues with the belief.

When I hear terms like "hipster" I think, who told cliques they could leave high school??

As Perri said, I could not support it in cases other than terminal illness. I think a good bit of criteria should be met. From my understanding Kevorkian was very good about throughly interviewing his clients/patients.

I personally would have a very hard time making that decision for anyone (like you do with pets), in case something happened, unless it was written out or feelings were well known. I think it is a great thing for families to discuss life saving measures while they can so you know what is and is not wanted. No assisted suicide at this time, but people can make sure they are not resuscitated or no other life saving measures are taken by getting a DNR (aka No Code) order and having it on hand.

When I hear terms like "hipster" I think, who told cliques they could leave high school??

With things like this, I just worry that the lines may be blurred. There are some evil people out there who might try to take advantage of something like that if it were legalised.

And you have to wonder, where would you draw the line? curlisue1 mentioned people not being able to communicate, but then how would you know they would prefer to die? Lots of people would rather live, regardless. You might get some people trying to manipulate the system and lying that their relatives want to die.

You could say that people can agree beforehand, 'if I ever get to this point, I would like for this to happen' but people can change their minds all the time.

I just think it's a really tough area. Of course, if someone wants to die they should be able to die however they'd like. But in terms of 'offering' it as a service / legalising it, I just think there could be a lot of people who'd take advantage of something like that.

I support it only in terminally ill patients. We do it with our pets with whom we consider a part of the family. So why not with our human family members? Here's where I draw the line. I'm a caregiver to my grandmother who at the present moment I can't stand. Her lies bother me & her insults hurt. (That woman is pure evil) There's isn't a day that goes by that I think about her passing away & feel a sense of peace & relief wash over me. If assisted suicide is legalized, it will give caregivers a way to kill the people they care for & claim it was assisted suicide.

I support it only in terminally ill patients. We do it with our pets with whom we consider a part of the family. So why not with our human family members? Here's where I draw the line. I'm a caregiver to my grandmother who at the present moment I can't stand. Her lies bother me & her insults hurt. (That woman is pure evil) There's isn't a day that goes by that I think about her passing away & feel a sense of peace & relief wash over me. If assisted suicide is legalized, it will give caregivers a way to kill the people they care for & claim it was assisted suicide.

There are religious reasons why some ppl feel that those are totally separate issues. Aside from that, IDK.

I support it. I dread contracting some terrible disease that causes intractable pain and suffering. I'd rather die with dignity than some long, drawn out excruciating death.

I've also seen terminally ill cancer patients begging to die and people suffering terribly with Parkinsons. I have a living will with very strong stipulations about not being kept alive under certain circumstances.

I believe quality of life is extremely important.

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I love all the Curl Junkie products. Still experimenting with gels and curl creams. Still hoping for 2nd day hair.... Every day is a gift :flower:

They just load you up with enough drugs to slowly shut you down and call it comfort measures.

They only do that when the person has a few hours left to live, and those hours will consist of nothing but unimaginably extreme pain. At that point, an adequate dose of pain medication is no different from a lethal dose.

It is legal in the US. Washington, Oregon, and Vermont currently have assisted suicide laws. I can't speak for VT, but it is highly regulated in WA and OR. It's not euthanasia and the drugs can't be requested by anyone but the patient. I was definitely in favor of this initiative passing.

When are women going to face the fact that they don’t know their own bodies as well as men who have heard things?

They just load you up with enough drugs to slowly shut you down and call it comfort measures.

They only do that when the person has a few hours left to live, and those hours will consist of nothing but unimaginably extreme pain. At that point, an adequate dose of pain medication is no different from a lethal dose.

I am aware. Just saying they help ease the person on. My grandfather spent his last few weeks in the hospital with comfort measure being taken. It wasn't hours. It was days, but he could have gone at any point (some do manage to hold on). He did at one point, and a couple of my Aunts freaked out and called the nurse. He was brought back and spent another week and a half with them arguing over giving him pain meds because it was killing him. *That would be when I flipped out, jerked the med control out of their hand, flew into a rage and pushed the button more times than I care to say (knowing I could not OD him, mind you. I was on a Demerol pump myself, but I was angry and on a mission) while calling them idiots* Bone cancer through out most of his body was killing him. The pain meds were easing and helping the process.

His mouth was swollen 3x it's normal size, he had well over 100 canker sores in his mouth, his body was covered in bed sores, he was in horrific pain, and why in the hell they called the nurse is beyond me. I know, it's their dad, and they were not ready to let go but but there is no coming back from that. I was a patient in the hospital at that same time, which I could tell scared him to death. He couldn't talk but he jumped when he saw me and grabbed his heart. I kept wheeling my IV into his room, holding his hand, watching him point at the ceiling, and telling him to go. His eyes would get huge, like he was seeing the most wonderful thing ... Again, it's important to discuss this stuff with your family.

When I hear terms like "hipster" I think, who told cliques they could leave high school??

It is legal in the US. Washington, Oregon, and Vermont currently have assisted suicide laws. I can't speak for VT, but it is highly regulated in WA and OR. It's not euthanasia and the drugs can't be requested by anyone but the patient. I was definitely in favor of this initiative passing.

Ah, I had no idea it was legal in a few states. The high regulation and patient only request rules are fantastic.

When I hear terms like "hipster" I think, who told cliques they could leave high school??

Fifi, I'm so sorry you went through that. I can empathize because I went through something similar. My mother was dying of cancer and had a sign over her bed prohibiting fluids but she was desperately thirsty and burning up from fever. She had lost the ability to speak or see. I asked her if she wanted water and she signaled yes. I gave her little sips and the nurse came in and was screaming at me to stop.

I didn't stop and yelled back "she's my mother!" I didn't care if they arrested me. There was this big commotion and people kept yelling at me and I ignored them and I kept on giving her little sips of water and finally they left me alone.

I grieved so terribly after she died (2 days later) but someone said to me that I had given her the last physical bit of comfort on this earth and that helped me feel a little better. Even if she had choked on the water and died on the spot - so what? She was dying anyway - why did she have to suffer like that? We had talked about it and she never wanted to be kept alive and suffer like that. I'm glad I stood up to those people who were bent on keeping her alive at any cost.

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I love all the Curl Junkie products. Still experimenting with gels and curl creams. Still hoping for 2nd day hair.... Every day is a gift :flower:

I am sorry you went through that, CP. It is a terrible situation. I know they are bound to do everything by protocol (especially when a DNR is not in place) but... No one could have stopped me from doing exactly what you did. They suffer so much as it is. (((Many hugs))).

PS- I am glad you did talk about it. Not the easiest thing to do. I partially want to shut down when my mom talks about what she wants, in case this happens or that happens. I know her fairly well. She's not like my dad. She has strong feelings against cremation. While she would not want prolonged life saving measures, she would never agree to assisted suicide if it were legal in NC. I need to really sit down and talk more with her about it. The way things happened with my dad were unusual. He had called several different people in the week before he suddenly died and told them what he wanted. He somehow knew it was coming. He had told me parts, but he told them everything. Same thing, time after time, person after person and he had a DNR. It was standard and needed paper work with his increasing kidney failure. He was approaching the treatment phase.

When I hear terms like "hipster" I think, who told cliques they could leave high school??

Thanks for the response Fifi. My mom actually had a DNR in place. It was so horrible.

Thanks again. It was actually the anniversary of her death many years ago yesterday but I still miss her very much.

2/c Coarse hair med. density.
Highly porous. Color over grey.
I love all the Curl Junkie products. Still experimenting with gels and curl creams. Still hoping for 2nd day hair.... Every day is a gift :flower:

I'm over the whole "playing God" argument. What does it even mean? God should not factor in any legal system of any secular state. If you believe only he can take your life, don't request assisted suicide for yourself should it ever come to that. But do not impose that belief on others.

The idea of the sanctity of life was clearly intended to prevent murder. But to equate murder with assisted suicide is intellectually dishonest. I think everyone understands the difference at the most basic intuitive level.

I'm over the whole "playing God" argument. What does it even mean? God should not factor in any legal system of any secular state. If you believe only he can take your life, don't request assisted suicide for yourself should it ever come to that. But do not impose that belief on others.

The idea of the sanctity of life was clearly intended to prevent murder. But to equate murder with assisted suicide is intellectually dishonest. I think everyone understands the difference at the most basic intuitive level.

Same as the abortion issue. We feel the way we feel. We can't support something we think is wrong. It's not intellectual and it's not intuitive for some of us.